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Mark Wyman

@markwyman.bsky.social

210 followers 160 following 370 posts

Former pop chart aficionado, slowly recreating my 400-track singles chart from 1980 via Spotify. Used to know lots about (and write stuff on) television. Once produced a CD-ROM for Oliver Postgate. Now back in London after a spring/summer in Vancouver.

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Mark Wyman @markwyman.bsky.social · Sep 12

Time to unveil Part 4 of my personal pop countdown from 1980.
This rock-heavy section should contain 40 more tracks, but a couple of them are too obscure for Spotify. They are on YouTube though, so the missing pair will be revealed soon!
open.spotify.com/playlist/7xQ...

#Forgotten80s
#80sRock

My top 400 singles of 1980: #280 to 241

open.spotify.com

Mark Wyman @markwyman.bsky.social · 2d

I was on my first reading of Lord of the Rings when this gorgeous song was in the charts, and somehow it conjured up enough of the sense of an epic to make me instinctively feel it fits a Tolkien soundtrack. Which it wouldn't really, but that elision never goes away for me.

Mark Wyman @markwyman.bsky.social · 2d

After a super-calm slow start, there's some pleasingly baroque touches here without lurching into prog rock as such. This song is not to be confused with the #Stranglers' 1977 track “Goodbye Toulouse”, but oddly enough both bands released singles titled “Strange Little Girl” - just four years apart.

Mark Wyman @markwyman.bsky.social · 2d

Track 246 of 400: “NOTHING LEFT TOULOUSE” by Sad Café
Not content with an album title that was an anagram of their name (see track #270), #SadCafé released this punningly-named single in 1980. It was a much smaller hit in the UK than “My Oh My” but I rather preferred this one.
#Forgotten80s

Sad Café - - Nothing left, Toulouse

YouTube video by Azaum1907

www.youtube.com

Mark Wyman @markwyman.bsky.social · 4d

The fourth of the multi-talented Jackson siblings to be born, Jermaine was almost four years older than Michael, of that famous clan, and often the second-most prominent singer after him in the Jackson Five. He stayed with #Motown in the mid-70s when the other brothers decamped to Epic Records.

Mark Wyman @markwyman.bsky.social · 4d

Track 247 of 400: “LET'S GET SERIOUS” by Jermaine Jackson
This was the surprisingly muscular, bass-heavy UK chart debut for Jermaine—formerly of the #JacksonFive. He was already a prolific artist in his own right in the US. It was the title track from his sixth solo album (he eventually made 14).

Jermaine Jackson - Let's Get Serious • TopPop

YouTube video by TopPop

www.youtube.com

Mark Wyman @markwyman.bsky.social · 4d

As a single, “Spirits (Having Flown)” was a belated release of the title track from their February 1979 album, which also included their more familiar No. 1 of that year, #Tragedy. This 7-incher didn't make the UK Top 10 but I found it more than a match for their giant hits of this era.
#80sBallads

Mark Wyman @markwyman.bsky.social · 4d

Track 248 of 400: “SPIRITS (HAVING FLOWN)” by The Bee Gees
Perhaps a surprising inclusion for me but yes, here are the Brothers Gibb making an appearance on my 1980 chart. I won't pretend to have been captivated by their falsetto voices often, but the progression in this tune is quite thrilling.

Bee Gees - Spirits (Having Flown)

YouTube video by Theflyinhawaiian2000

www.youtube.com

Mark Wyman @markwyman.bsky.social · 7d

Still led on vocals at this time by #LionelRichie, who would go solo in 1982, “Wonderland” followed “Sail On” and “Still”—both Top 10 hits in the UK—as a release from that 1979 album, but reached only No. 40 nationally. Some great bass work aside, there's not too much memorable about it.
#80sSoul

Mark Wyman @markwyman.bsky.social · 7d

Track 249 of 400: “WONDERLAND” by The Commodores
Best known for ballads such as their 1978 UK No.1 “Three Times A Lady”, the Commodores were a soul combo who could also get quite steely, as on their classic “Easy”. This final single from the LP “Midnight Magic” did not prove to have that status.

Wonderland

YouTube video by Commodores - Topic

www.youtube.com

Mark Wyman @markwyman.bsky.social · 7d

Many of JCC's compositions, such as “36 Hours” benefited from a stellar backing band who bolstered his startling couplets. The Invisible Girls included producer and Factory records stalwart Martin Hannett on bass plus the seasoned Paul Burgess, then the sticksman for 10CC, on drums.
#80sPunkPoets

Mark Wyman @markwyman.bsky.social · 7d

Track 250 of 400: “36 HOURS” by John Cooper Clarke
That's 3/8ths of my 400 tracks accounted for now! Billy Joel may be a fine wordsmith, but he's no performance poet in the vein of JCC - the Bard of Salford. This track was on a double-A sided single taken from his 1980 album “Snap, Crackle & Bop”.

John Cooper Clarke - 36 Hours (remaster)

YouTube video by RileyELFuk

www.youtube.com

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Mark Wyman @markwyman.bsky.social · 7d

Lighter in tone than much of that 1980 album, "Don't Ask Me why" was Joel at his wittiest and most economical. Maybe it's a sketch that lacks a little substance, but it's such an enjoyable three minutes. Predictably, as a single it didn't chart in the UK but was a Top 20 hit Stateside.
#80sSingers

Mark Wyman @markwyman.bsky.social · 7d

Track 251 of 400: “DON'T ASK ME WHY” by Billy Joel
A change of style here, with the first of four entries on my 1980 chart for New York's piano man himself. All four were tracks on his album released that March, “Glass Houses”, his first LP to reach the UK Top 10. This was the final single from it.

Billy Joel: Don't Ask Me Why (Live in London - June 8, 1984) [HD]

YouTube video by Matthew - Billy Joel Bootlegs

www.youtube.com

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Mark Wyman @markwyman.bsky.social · 8d

This Xmas single took its title from a #MarxBrothers routine in “A Night at the Opera”, a film that was 45 years old in 1980. The Damned didn't have much fortune as a chart act: their 1976 single “New Rose” is often seen as the UK's first #punkrock release, but the Sex Pistols hogged the limelight.

Mark Wyman @markwyman.bsky.social · 8d

Track 252 of 400: “THERE AIN'T NO SANITY CLAUSE” by The Damned
Yet another non-charting UK single, as the #Damned failed to crack 1980's lucrative Christmas market. Perversely, this single was released in the same month as their double LP “The Black Album”, yet didn't appear on it.
#80sPunk

The Damned - There Ain't No Sanity Clause

YouTube video by fery2

www.youtube.com

Mark Wyman @markwyman.bsky.social · 8d

Pat Benatar was not the first to record this hard-rock anthem: it was written for and released by English singer Jenny Darren in 1978. But stop press: #DollyParton, no less, released a fine version (in collaboration with Benatar) on her epic 2023 covers album “Rockstar”. Dolly was then aged 77.

Mark Wyman @markwyman.bsky.social · 8d

Track 253 of 400: “HEARTBREAKER” by Pat Benatar
The breakthrough hit for a great rock singer in N. America and Australasia; her debut album made the Top 3 in Canada. It took a while longer for #Benatar to enter the UK charts, when “Love is a Battlefield” just crept into our Top 50 in 1983.
#80sRock

PAT BENATAR - "Heartbreaker" on ROCK POP (1980)

YouTube video by PatBenatarLibrary

www.youtube.com

Mark Wyman @markwyman.bsky.social · 9d

I effectively have, and thank you! I usually avoid much jetlag after long-haul flights but a little infection was all it took to throw me off balance for a week (we arrived home a fortnight ago already).

Mark Wyman @markwyman.bsky.social · 9d

“Train in Vain” was an unusual early example of a hidden track: it was added to the vinyl LP of “London Calling” too late to be listed on the sleeve or label. Many listeners assumed it was called “Stand by Me”, as the title is not sung. Ben E King fans were probably more confused than most.
#80sRock

Mark Wyman @markwyman.bsky.social · 9d

(Yes, that's a live version by #TheClash from Lewisham in 1980, to underline the fact that I'm back home in south London after almost six months away in Canada).

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Mark Wyman @markwyman.bsky.social · 9d

Track 254 of 400: “TRAIN IN VAIN (STAND BY ME)” by The Clash
Slightly outside the envelope with this chugging-away song, as it wasn't released as a single in the UK in 1980. I'm pretty sure there were (European?) import copies around though. This was also the first Clash 7” to make the US Top 30.

The Clash - Train in Vain (Stand by Me) (Live at the Lewisham Odeon, 1980)

YouTube video by theclashVEVO

www.youtube.com

Mark Wyman @markwyman.bsky.social · 9d

Oops, I've been very slack in recent weeks about continuing my epic countdown of #SongsFrom1980. Put it down to a combination of road trips, jet lag on my return to the UK a fortnight ago and a lingering cold. All OK to carry on now though. Still 250+ songs to go!

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Mark Wyman @markwyman.bsky.social · 10d

You'll be heading to Vancouver just to see Grace Holloway's house next! (I walked past it several times this summer)

Mark Wyman @markwyman.bsky.social · 19d

The Headboys had one minor UK chart hit in 1979, but the band members had more impact beyond. Sax player Bob Heatlie wrote both “Japanese Boy” for #Aneka and “Merry Christmas Everyone” for #Shaky, both UK No. 1s. Calum Malcolm, on keyboards, has too many producer/engineer credits to mention.
#80sPop

Mark Wyman @markwyman.bsky.social · 19d

Track 255 of 400: “STEPPING STONES” by The Headboys
Another band that I recalled next to nothing about, with a track that's currently unavailable on Spotify. #Wikipedia summarises The Headboys as a “Scottish power pop band … formed originally under the name of Badger”, and who could improve on that?

The Headboys Steppin' Stones Full LP HQ audio & lyrics onscreen added

YouTube video by HQ Audio Lyrics onscreen channel

www.youtube.com

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